More than 1.6 million people are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer in 2013. For example, one of the most common types of cancer in women is breast cancer, and this disease is responsible for one of the highest fatality rates of all cancers affecting females. The current treatment of breast cancer is limited to total, or partial, mastectomy, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. More than 232,340 cancer cases in 2013 will be breast cancer, which will result in an estimated 40,030 deaths. See, Siegel et al., CA: Cancer J. Clin. 2013; 63:11-30.
A number of cancer deaths are caused by blood cancers including leukemias, myelomas, and lymphomas. In 2013, almost 80,000 cancer cases will be lymphomas, estimated to result in over 20,000 deaths.
Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery are the primary methods of cancer treatment. However, these therapies are most successful only when the cancer is detected at an early stage. Once cancer reaches invasive/metastatic stages, lines of invading cells or metastasizing cells can escape detection, thus resulting in relapses, which requires the use of therapy that is highly toxic. At this point, both the cancer cells and the patient's unaffected cells are exposed to the toxic therapy, resulting with, among other complications, a weakening of the immune system. As such, there remains a need in the art for new methods for treating cancer, such as breast cancer or lymphoma, in a patient.